Top 10 Bizarre Cult Movies

Remember 2013’s Sharknado, the TV disaster movie about…erm, a shark tornado? Well, this week saw the premiere of the sequel, Sharknado 2: The Second One. To celebrate (or commiserate) we decided to take a look at some other strange cult classics that live on in film history.

10. Sharktopus

Before there was Sharknado, there was Sharktopus, a fearsome tale about a creature genetically engineered by the U.S navy to be used in combat. The beast escapes, chaos ensues. Two sequels have been commissioned, including one to be released this year, the excitingly-titled Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda, which will feature U.S talk show host Conan O’Brian in his acting debut.

9. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

The film industry in the 1960s saw a huge increase in the number of explotation films, and one of the most infamous is this 1965 venture. Featuring a group of murderous go-go dancers, plenty of gratuitous violence and a flimsy plot to tie it all together, Faster Pussycat outraged audiences at the time of its release but has since become a cult classic, inspiring the likes of Quentin Tarantino, whose film Death Proof definitely pays tribute to this grindhouse number.

8. Freaks

The film that effectively ended Dracula director Tod Browning’s career, this 1932 horror film remains terrifying even to this day. The story of a con-artist named Cleopatra who joins a travelling freak show in an attempt to steal the inheritance of one of its performers, was considered too shocking to be released in its first version, but even after extensive cuts still failed to impress audiences and was largely forgotten until its rediscovery in the 70s and 80s when it became a staple for midnight movie showings in the United States. It’s been referenced in numerous other films over the years, including Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street.

7. Showgirls

Panned by critics for its gratuitous nudity and simulated sex and the winner (if that’s the right word) of seven Razzie awards, Showgirls has achieved cult status for all the wrong reasons. It’s become a bastion of bad acting and even worse writing, regular screened in America where audiences revel in the ridiculousness. Yet writer Joe Eszterhas maintains the humour audiences find in his film was intentional: "What Paul [Verhoeven] and I had in mind was something darkly funny. We went through the script line by line, and we were really laughing at some of it. I defy people to tell me that a line like, 'How does it feel not to have anybody coming on you anymore' isn't meant to be funny."

6. Road House

You might recognise Road House from Family Guy, as Peter Griffin becomes obsessed with the film after renting it on DVD. The movie itself features Patrick Swayze as a doorman whose brand of vigilante justice in small-town Missouri doesn’t go down too well. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert had this to say about it: "Road House exists right on the edge between the "good-bad movie" and the merely bad. I hesitate to recommend it, because so much depends on the ironic vision of the viewer. This is not a good movie. But viewed in the right frame of mind, it is not a boring one, either."

Next Page: The final five in our Top Ten Cult Movies countdown

5. Battlefield Earth

Poor John Travolta; fresh from career rejuvenation with Pulp Fiction, he walked straight into this absolute flop. Wildly considered to be one of the worst films ever made, this adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard’s novel of the same name features an odd but entertaining performance from Travolta as Terl, the security chief of an alien race who have conquered Earth. Jonathan Ross was particularly scathing of the film, saying "Everything about Battlefield Earth sucks. Everything. The over-the-top music, the unbelievable sets, the terrible dialogue, the hammy acting, the lousy special effects, the beginning, the middle and especially the end."

4. Evil Dead II

Unlike most of the films on this list, Evil Dead II isn’t a bad film, it’s quite the opposite. Certified 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, Sam Raimi’s parody-horror sequel is considered by many to be better than the original, but there’s no denying it’s downright insane. Bruce Campbell’s unhinged performance as the terminally unlucky Ash Williams has gone down in history as a horror classic, and it’s spawned sequels which were decent films in their own right, but none will ever be as good as Evil Dead II, quite possibly the king of cult horror.

3. Anonymous Rex

Imagine a world where dinosaurs had never been extinct. Instead, they faked their own extinction, and were living peacefully alongside humans in disguise as private investigators and such. Well- you don’t have to imagine, because this is the premise of Anonymous Rex, which is actually based on a novel called 'Casual Rex'. Starring lesser known Baldwin brother Daniel and Sam Trammell (of True Blood fame) there’s really not a lot more than can be said for this film. Except that it’s no Jurassic Park.

2. Snakes on a Plane

One of the more famous titles on this list, Snakes on a Plane became an internet sensation long before its release due to its title, plot, and the casting of Samuel L. Jackson in the lead role, further proof that the man can do whatever he wants. It’s a case of a film doing exactly what it says on the tin: there are snakes, on a plane, and everything else is really a bonus.

1. The Room

Explaining The Room to someone who hasn’t seen it is a little like explaining complicated mathematics to a Labrador: you can try all you like, but they will always look at you ultimately bemused by the words coming out of your mouth. Directed, written and produced by its lead actor Tommy Wiseau, this so-called ‘romantic drama’ focuses (in the loosest sense of the word) on a love triangle between a banker, his fiancée, and his best friend. Featuring a cast of unknowns, an indecipherable plot full of inconsistencies and non-sequiturs, the film has somehow become an international sensation, spawning a video game, Rocky Horror-style interactive midnight showings, and with a whole host of celebrity fans behind it. Seeing really is believing.